Feb 2, 2013

2013 Hero Tier List - Solo Queue - Season 3 Patch Updated (February)

Preface Chatter
Yeah, that's a strange way to put it, Season 3 Season 3 patch...well it is what it is! Lots of nerfs coming in this patch, which means that this list will be changing a lot in the next few weeks as all the changes become apparent.

The way nerfs work to bring other heroes back into the limelight is interesting; remember, just because a champion is lower on the list doesn't mean that they're "bad" or "unplayable" it just means that there are other champions who do their job much better! Naturally, once similar heroes are nerfed, those lower tier heroes suddenly become much more desirable, despite not changing.

Examples of heroes that just keep coming back into cycle are Kassadin and Akali.

EDIT: Some of you might be a little annoyed how I keep redirecting the last version of the tier list to the new one. I apologize for that, but it really keeps us all on the same page when it comes to the discussion!

Heroes in Italics may be over/undervalued, but aren't/haven't played enough for me to make a better judgement.

Within each tier the champions are strongest from left to right, but within a tier each champion's strength is relatively close. This is especially true for Tiers 2 and 3 where these heroes are ALL highly playable and player dependent on how strong they are in-game.

Tier 1: These heroes generally do very well regardless, and when they do well, their team does well. Even when they don't do well, their team still has a good chance of a comeback victory.

Tier 2: These heroes are a little more hit or miss, and if they start falling behind they start feeling powerless.

Tier 3: These heroes can still do very well, but tend to need a little more snowballing to get rolling. Even if they get an early lead, it's still very possible to turn the tides on them with just a mistake or two.

Tier 4: These heroes basically start winning from the get-go or get made fun of for the rest of the game. They need gold to do their job correctly, and if they don't get enough of it, they become sandbags for the enemy team to punch.

Hero Explanations

Caitlyn - She hasn't changed at all, but with her faithful companion Nunu's bloodboil nerfed, she's definitely not the powerhouse she was before, and thus she's been moved down in the list.

Draven - Subsequently, as Ezreal and Miss Fortune get nerfed repeatedly, Draven's becoming more and more viable than ever before as an AD carry. He's got a high skillcap, and very good potential, but with other AD carries nerfed repeatedly, missed axe catches are less punishing in comparison to before.

Ezreal - Ezreal's certainly still very strong, but these repeated nerfs have really brought the boy down. I believe we'll soon see a return in Corki and Graves to the spotlight.

Kayle - AP Kayle is an absolute terror midlane, and top lane AS/AD Kayle wins almost every matchup. I'd say she deserves a high spot in solo queue.

Kennen - I think this buff to his ult is going to be just the right boost to bring him back into high playability.

Rammus - I think that I haven't been giving Rammus enough credit. It's true that his powerball initiation runs into some serious issues, but with all the AD based champions as FOTM status, he's actually quite strong. The fact that he isn't popular anymore also makes him successful as people aren't used to dealing with him.

Singed - Singed is ludicrously strong right now. His win rate is through the roof, and even if you shut him down in lane, all he needs is a good 3~5 minutes of farming alone and suddenly he's an unstoppable tank. I think we'll be seeing a nerf on him soon.

Sivir - Sivir's an interesting case, I think she's much stronger than she was before in this meta since Cait's been a popular pick lately, and with several AD carries being nerfed, she's starting to make more of an impact.

Skarner - I feel that there are much better choices than Skarner at the moment, and yes in the right teamcomp he's amazing (ex: manaless APs in-game), but otherwise he's pretty average as junglers go.

Thresh - I think Thresh has a LOT of potential, especially once people start getting the hang of his lantern comboes and junglers are able to capitalize on some good synergy. He makes lane-ganks a breeze, and although his hook isn't quite as good as Blitzcrank's, it's got its own perks. His passive is also decent as they go, and lets him scale quite well into late game.

Trundle - Yes, I've seen Doublelift's take on Trundle and how he's under-appreciated and the ultimate tank killer. I still don't think he's that good. Someone will probably prove me otherwise. SSoTP.

Xin Zhao - Xin Zhao is a beast right now. Everything he has going for him is going well for him, and I'd say he might be due for a nerf soon as well.

Disclaimer:

The purpose of this list is for discussion and to provide a starting point for hero selection.

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Hi Rafael, the nerfs definitely affected his early and mid game, but his late game is still very strong. I think that he's still tier 1 worthy but we'll have a better idea in a week or two as more data comes in.

I have to disagree with Vayne being in tier 3. You said it yourself about Draven becoming more viable due to other ADC nerfs, and I definitely feel the same applies to Vayne. Not to mention, while her early game is a little questionable, she can be an absolute terror late game and take down even the tankiest of tanks.

Hi megatank, it's actually a bit counter-intuitive since spells scale off increased arpen better than autoattacks from what I remember Chaox saying about how to rune for Graves. That's why despite %HP being a very strong type of damage, it's not quite the end-all OP that you might think from first glance.

The fact that liandries is very easy to build also makes %HP less special, since it's very easy to access on almost any hero.

That's true, the problem I think is that Caitlyn needs to stop being so popular. While Caitlyn isn't the greatest AD carry late game, the pain she dishes on Vayne early can prevent Vayne from ever realizing her potential. She also does very poorly against MF early, who's FOTM at the moment.

wukong kicks butt really hard. only darius can counter him. And ***** please jax cant do a shit for team whereas wukong is a total destroyer(with avg 2000+ AoE) damagei know He's doesnt have sustain but his E+Q poke doesnt allow any1 to properly engage him

Why is Fizz tier 3 ? He's one of the most annoying mid champs with a very high damage output. And Vi in tier 3 is unfair too...well,her early game is weak but a force from mid to late game...she's brilliant like Cho'gath in teamfights.

hey question Suntastic, im 1400-1500 ELO, why is Nidalee so high, what does she excel at? I know ive seen her own when I watch streams, can u tell me what her strengths are? I really enjoy her.

Laning she is really tough cause of sustain right? and then takes your turret earlyShe is a great split pusher as well correct? good turret dmg + wave clear + escape

issue I have at my level and team mates, is when i tell them im gonna split push mid game, they get caught 4 on 5, and dont understand they need to not engage till someone comes to stop my split push and always blame me "noob nid, selfish, doesnt help team"

Hi IcyPhoenix, from my experience Nidalee has two roles, but both sum up to simply being annoying. As a general reason why she's extremely good, it's because she can create pressure and is very good at staying alive.

AP Nidalee - This one's getting more popular, and it's pretty clear why: by repeatedly throwing these spears that can chunk 2/3 of an AD carry's health in one hit, she creates some amazing openings to engage on the enemy team.

Top Lane Nidalee: Two items sum up her ridiculous power top lane: Chalice, and Spirit Visage. Once you get these two items, it's simple to start building tanky, push lanes, and create enough pressure for your team to once again, gain good openings to engage or do objectives.

Your role in teamfights varies. In the end, just remember that your goal is to do as much damage as possible and take as much damage as possible without dying. This means you're always judging every opportunity and direction you should either pounce in, or find a safe spot to go human form and throw spears.

Why Tristana still Tier 3 after she got buffed ? I think everyone is underestimate her strength and keep spotlight commune choice or ex- commune (Corki & Graves) i got a friend which is top elo (he was 9th before the elo system changed) which is pro tristana player and starting season 3 he did 7games 7wins. (his profil:http://www.lolking.net/summoner/euw/140683#profile)

Thanks for a great tier list. I have a quick question about Malzahar however.Due to Malzahar's % based damage he does very well at countering the health stacking meta and I've been having a lot of success with him. Liandry's Torment is also an amazing item as it procs with each tick of his DoT (Malefic Visions). Malzahar can also push down turrets very quickly with his passive. I know he has no escape spell, but with good map awareness, a good Malzahar player can overcome this.

What is preventing Malzahar from getting any tier higher than the bottom of tier 3? I would personally rather have a good Malzahar player on my team than a good Kassadin or Diana (maybe even a good Lux too). What is holding Malzahar back?

Also, I don't feel Karthus deserves tier 1 in solo queue as he requires a lot of coopertion with his team.

Thanks chaingang, this list is actually going to get some revisions within the week I think, Malzahar is actually getting moved up a bit in Tier 3, closer to Brand and Gragas. The reason Malzahar is in Tier 3 is because although he's very strong 1v1 and in lane, his teamfighting can be difficult since he'll need to carefully time when to put himself in the "danger zone", and his utility isn't that high.

Meanwhile, higher Tier champions like Zyra and Orianna (who's also getting moved up) simply have much safer engages and provide more utility.

Karthus is almost always going to be in Tier 1 even when he's not FOTM simply because a good Karthus can always win a game by himself in the end. His damage potential with the way his Q works is extremely high (although most people can't maximize it) and his wall can be game-changing. This combined with his post-mortis unavoidable damage gives him a strong niche.

My Malzahar may be a bit biased since about half my games are Twisted Treeline games where teamfights are only 3v3. When I lock down and (usually) kill 1 priority target, the teamfight is almost guarenteed to be won. Also, the Blackfire Torch is amazing on Malzahar, but not available on Summoner's Rift.